CFL camps open, Morneau continues to roll
-Training camps are open for rookies around the CFL. One of them in Toronto will become the new starting quarterback. In a world where former Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks run amok searching for software engineering jobs, you'd think one of them would be able to spend a few months throwing to wide open defensive backs in the CFL East Division. It's not like it's a job that will carry over into November.
-Justin Morneau singled last night in Seattle, increasing his hit streak to a modest six games, briefly taking over the top spot in the American League batting race before he went 0-fer in his last three at bats. The Twins won 4-1, giving them three out of four games in the series. The Twins move on to play Oakland to actually face Dallas Braden tonight. Remember him? He pitched a perfect game about a month ago.
-After a pair of blown 9th inning leads, the Jays kick off a three-game set against the Yankees tonight. Brett Cecil (5-2) goes up against former Jay A.J. Burnett (6-2). Until Cecil spells 'laodician' correctly, I'll have my butt firmly planted in my seat cheering on Toronto's Laura Olivia Newcombe.
-Meanwhile, your required reading today comes from Jack Bogoch, who investigated a Regina hockey school of fighting with an open mind. [Deadspin.com] Given that somebody has died doing this and it's not leaving the game anytime soon, shouldn't schools like this be more commonplace?
==
Quick. What are your favourite drinking games to play when watching the spelling bee? It's easier to watch than Jeopardy, because the solutions are right there on the screen. All you have to do is watch and hope the 11-year old kid doesn't screw up. Like parents taking their kids on Toddlers and Tiaras.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The next true north hope
This weekend is the Scripps National Spelling Bee. There is only one Canadian contestant, but, after finishing 17th last year, the seasoned veteran is hungry and eager to spell.
Toronto's Laura Olivia Newcombe, who goes to Deer Park Elementary School, is from a family of spellers. Sister Leslie competed back in 2006 at the event.
Here's her profile on the official Scripps website. No stats are listed yet, but you can bet we'll all be huddled around our television boxes cheering on the #24 speller.
Go Laura!
Toronto's Laura Olivia Newcombe, who goes to Deer Park Elementary School, is from a family of spellers. Sister Leslie competed back in 2006 at the event.
Here's her profile on the official Scripps website. No stats are listed yet, but you can bet we'll all be huddled around our television boxes cheering on the #24 speller.
Go Laura!
We remember the worst blown calls of all time
CBC came out with their list of top 10 blown calls in celebration of Jim Joyce singlehandedly ruining a perfect game from a smiling Armando Galarraga.
The call is really only funny if Hitler and his Generals are narrating the action.
CBC's list is almost complete, but, for a network that takes so much criticism for catering to the Toronto Maple Leafs, it's surprising the list is short one Gretzky high stick.
Why was that one left off the list, but the 2004 Phantom Goal on the list?
I guess that's the way things go these days at that network.
The call is really only funny if Hitler and his Generals are narrating the action.
CBC's list is almost complete, but, for a network that takes so much criticism for catering to the Toronto Maple Leafs, it's surprising the list is short one Gretzky high stick.
Why was that one left off the list, but the 2004 Phantom Goal on the list?
I guess that's the way things go these days at that network.
Thursday June 4th - Morning Briefing
I had written a post, but then Jim Joyce came around and deleted it before I could publish it.
-In all seriousness, Armando Galarraga threw out 27 of 27 batters, but on the 27th, a terrible call from umpire Jim Joyce kept him from throwing the third perfect game in 22 days. World of sports explodes, and all of a sudden Kerry Fraser is vindicated for the Gretzky non-call in 1993.
-Stanley Cup Finals. Philly wins at home, breaking Chicago's 7-game winning streak on the road. Ben Eager did not take the puck at the end of the game, so there's no real story here, except we saw a fantastic hockey game and are looking forward to Game 4 on Friday, with the series at 2-1 for the Blackhawks. Also to note, the deciding game will be on network television in the States, since VERSUS carried Games 2 through 4. 5, 6 and 7 are all on NBC. Bet they won't when Winnipeg and Hamilton meet in the Cup Finals.
-The Blue Jays gave up another lead in the 9th to the Rays, but Kevin Gregg wasn't in tonight to pin the blame on. A fantastic baseball game was at 2-1 headed into the 9th, and then Shawn Marcum collapsed. Toronto lost 7-3.
-Justin Morneau was upstaged by Ken Griffey retiring at Safeco last night but managed a hit in a 2-1 loss. Joey Votto was hitless but Jason Bay was 3-for-4 in a Mets loss to the Padres. Suddenly I'm not feeling so optimistic about the World Baseball Classic.
===
I don't know what's on tap for today. I'll take a walk, then end up watching baseball. The secret to good chicken is tomato sauce, hot sauce and teriyaki sauce. Let it be known.
-In all seriousness, Armando Galarraga threw out 27 of 27 batters, but on the 27th, a terrible call from umpire Jim Joyce kept him from throwing the third perfect game in 22 days. World of sports explodes, and all of a sudden Kerry Fraser is vindicated for the Gretzky non-call in 1993.
-Stanley Cup Finals. Philly wins at home, breaking Chicago's 7-game winning streak on the road. Ben Eager did not take the puck at the end of the game, so there's no real story here, except we saw a fantastic hockey game and are looking forward to Game 4 on Friday, with the series at 2-1 for the Blackhawks. Also to note, the deciding game will be on network television in the States, since VERSUS carried Games 2 through 4. 5, 6 and 7 are all on NBC. Bet they won't when Winnipeg and Hamilton meet in the Cup Finals.
-The Blue Jays gave up another lead in the 9th to the Rays, but Kevin Gregg wasn't in tonight to pin the blame on. A fantastic baseball game was at 2-1 headed into the 9th, and then Shawn Marcum collapsed. Toronto lost 7-3.
-Justin Morneau was upstaged by Ken Griffey retiring at Safeco last night but managed a hit in a 2-1 loss. Joey Votto was hitless but Jason Bay was 3-for-4 in a Mets loss to the Padres. Suddenly I'm not feeling so optimistic about the World Baseball Classic.
===
I don't know what's on tap for today. I'll take a walk, then end up watching baseball. The secret to good chicken is tomato sauce, hot sauce and teriyaki sauce. Let it be known.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Shootout on the docket
General Managers discuss shootout, head hits
At today's General Manager meetings in Philadelphia, a surprising issue was put forward: NHL teams think that there are too many shootouts deciding games. The conversation paused awkwardly when Flyers GM Paul Holmgren was asked for his opinion.
The "Ken Holland" solution, according to Bob McKenzie, is to follow 4-on-4 overtime with 3-on-3 overtime before the shootout occurs. I have another suggestion to add to that. Between overtime and the shootout, stop scraping the ice. With a three-man format instead of a five-man format to decide games, you're already pretty much allowing for a situation where one lucky bounce can determine the outcome. Ice scraping already takes too much time, and if we come to a situation where another period of overtime comes before the shootout, we're looking at games being three hours long in the regular season.
I like the Ken Holland rule.
The other topic of conversation was the blindside hit to the head rule. It looks as if we'll have a rule next year which allows referees to call a 5-minute penalty on the blindside head hit. Not a bad idea, if you're some kind of pansy. Next I suppose players will want to wear visors.
At today's General Manager meetings in Philadelphia, a surprising issue was put forward: NHL teams think that there are too many shootouts deciding games. The conversation paused awkwardly when Flyers GM Paul Holmgren was asked for his opinion.
The "Ken Holland" solution, according to Bob McKenzie, is to follow 4-on-4 overtime with 3-on-3 overtime before the shootout occurs. I have another suggestion to add to that. Between overtime and the shootout, stop scraping the ice. With a three-man format instead of a five-man format to decide games, you're already pretty much allowing for a situation where one lucky bounce can determine the outcome. Ice scraping already takes too much time, and if we come to a situation where another period of overtime comes before the shootout, we're looking at games being three hours long in the regular season.
I like the Ken Holland rule.
The other topic of conversation was the blindside hit to the head rule. It looks as if we'll have a rule next year which allows referees to call a 5-minute penalty on the blindside head hit. Not a bad idea, if you're some kind of pansy. Next I suppose players will want to wear visors.
Wednesday June 2nd - Morning Briefing
Pronger... and Angel Hernandez goes ape shit
-Philadelphia has had trouble with discipline in the Cup Finals. Chicago can't get its first line going. Neither team has played very well, and Chicago find themselves up 2-0. So what's the biggest story? Naturally, Chris Pronger picking up a puck and upsetting Ben Eager.
Down Goes Brown, everybody's favourite, has the latest on the absurdity, chronicling other "jerk" things Chris Pronger has done, prior to him stealing game pucks from the Cup Finals. [Down Goes Brown]
-What's the deal with Steve Nash's legacy? Tim Micallef uses sound bits from Charles Barkley to convince the world that Nash is a surefire Hall of Famer the minute he retires: [The Score]
Now... my friends and I had a debate over a glass of wine/rum/beer tonight, how many more years does Nash have left in him? My completely unfounded guess is six, based on the rate he's improved over the years. With Goran Dragic developing into a capable backup point guard, Nash will only need to play 30 minutes to give the Suns a good chance.
-If you happened to catch the Blue Jays yesterday, you hit the jackpot. Toronto played great until the 9th, when Kevin Gregg went all Little League on Tampa's hitters and threw five walks to allow the Rays to erase a 2-run Toronto lead and take one of their own. This came after Carlos Peña was not granted a timeout at bat, struck out, and forced Joe Maddon to come out and yell at home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Maddon was subsequently tossed, then went after Joe West for good measure.
The way Maddon acted was enough to make Joe West seem downright reasonable. He is the crew chief, but this is the same umpire who tossed Ozzie Guillen and Mark Buerhle for showing up to the ballpark last week. He is a major league umpire with his own publicist and country record, but Joe Maddon made him seem reasonable.
Either way, Gregg got tossed after Cito Gaston took him out of the game four batters too late, and the Jays came close to tieing the game in the bottom of the 9th, with Vernon Wells coming within a foot to the top of the wall to making it a 7-7 ball game. He settled for the RBI double, Jays drop a close, important one to Tampa.
Tomorrow is David Price (7-2) against Shawn Marcum (5-1). I advise you not to miss this one.
-Also starting tomorrow, Vancouver's Jeff Francis for Colorado against the Giants. More Canadians tonight, Justin Morneau homered, but the Twins lost 7-1 to Seattle. Joey Votto homered too for Cincinatti, but he also went 4-for-5 and his Reds beat the Cardinals 9-8. He also score three runs and took the lead in the National League batting race, two points ahead of Christian Guzman with .326, or .326 above the 'Aaron Hill Line.'
-CFL camps open tomorrow. Very excited for pigskin up here.
==
That's pretty well it. If I missed something, like a Brian Tallet perfect game, I'll be sure to pay full lip service tomorrow in a post directing you to somebody else's work. Have a great hump day.
-Philadelphia has had trouble with discipline in the Cup Finals. Chicago can't get its first line going. Neither team has played very well, and Chicago find themselves up 2-0. So what's the biggest story? Naturally, Chris Pronger picking up a puck and upsetting Ben Eager.
Down Goes Brown, everybody's favourite, has the latest on the absurdity, chronicling other "jerk" things Chris Pronger has done, prior to him stealing game pucks from the Cup Finals. [Down Goes Brown]
-What's the deal with Steve Nash's legacy? Tim Micallef uses sound bits from Charles Barkley to convince the world that Nash is a surefire Hall of Famer the minute he retires: [The Score]
Now... my friends and I had a debate over a glass of wine/rum/beer tonight, how many more years does Nash have left in him? My completely unfounded guess is six, based on the rate he's improved over the years. With Goran Dragic developing into a capable backup point guard, Nash will only need to play 30 minutes to give the Suns a good chance.
-If you happened to catch the Blue Jays yesterday, you hit the jackpot. Toronto played great until the 9th, when Kevin Gregg went all Little League on Tampa's hitters and threw five walks to allow the Rays to erase a 2-run Toronto lead and take one of their own. This came after Carlos Peña was not granted a timeout at bat, struck out, and forced Joe Maddon to come out and yell at home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Maddon was subsequently tossed, then went after Joe West for good measure.
The way Maddon acted was enough to make Joe West seem downright reasonable. He is the crew chief, but this is the same umpire who tossed Ozzie Guillen and Mark Buerhle for showing up to the ballpark last week. He is a major league umpire with his own publicist and country record, but Joe Maddon made him seem reasonable.
Either way, Gregg got tossed after Cito Gaston took him out of the game four batters too late, and the Jays came close to tieing the game in the bottom of the 9th, with Vernon Wells coming within a foot to the top of the wall to making it a 7-7 ball game. He settled for the RBI double, Jays drop a close, important one to Tampa.
Tomorrow is David Price (7-2) against Shawn Marcum (5-1). I advise you not to miss this one.
-Also starting tomorrow, Vancouver's Jeff Francis for Colorado against the Giants. More Canadians tonight, Justin Morneau homered, but the Twins lost 7-1 to Seattle. Joey Votto homered too for Cincinatti, but he also went 4-for-5 and his Reds beat the Cardinals 9-8. He also score three runs and took the lead in the National League batting race, two points ahead of Christian Guzman with .326, or .326 above the 'Aaron Hill Line.'
-CFL camps open tomorrow. Very excited for pigskin up here.
==
That's pretty well it. If I missed something, like a Brian Tallet perfect game, I'll be sure to pay full lip service tomorrow in a post directing you to somebody else's work. Have a great hump day.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Tuesday June 1st - Morning Briefing
Pronger causes trouble, Jays continue to roll
-We've all played pickup sports with that kid who would pick up the ball and go home if a game didn't go his way. It turns out Chris Pronger is one of those guys.
If you don't have the luxury of the Sportscentre morning loop with Onrait and O'Toole, you may have not noticed that Pronger picked up the puck after the game (you can see it in his left glove at the 0:27 mark) and then flicked a towel at Ben Eager.
Of course, Philadelphia had lost their second straight one-goal game 2-1 this time, and Craig Simpson on CBC speculated that Pronger wanted to keep the puck away from the Blackhawks as a part of team history. Pronger will go down in history as a great defenseman, and also somewhat of a prick. The man might be better served getting his team ready for Game 3 in Philly rather than attempting to play jedi mind-tricks with Ben Eager. "You are not a goal scorer."
"I am not a goal scorer."
"This is not the puck you're looking for."
"This is not the puck we're looking for."
Pronger later said he didn't know what language Eager was speaking. Eager apparently came all the way across the ice to tell him "you can keep the puck."
Either way, this is sure to broil down to a bigger controversy than Greedo shooting first. It may be wise to avoid Nick Kypreos' opinion on this one.
-His numbers weren't spectacular and his form wasn't particularly impressive, but Brendan Morrow put together a solid outing and gave the Jays a huge win in their first of three against the Rays to improve to 4-4 on the year. The Jays knocked Tampa started Matt Garza (5-4) pretty well, but only had three runs to show for their 11 hits. Adam Lind hit an opposite-field shot in the first inning, Vernon Wells had two more hits and Aaron Hill went 3-for-4 to increase his batting average to a paltry .179.
-In more Jays news, the team will honour Roy Halladay with a jumbotron tribute sometime this week. In the comments of that story, commenter JoeKnowsIt points out that the Leafs did the same thing with Mats Sundin when he returned to Toronto as a Canuck. I guess the state of Toronto sports is that bad, where you've run out of players on your own teams to honour. I can't wait to see what kind of montage the Raptors have prepared for Hedo Turkgolu.
-Justin Morneau went 3-for-4 as the Twins beat the Mariners 5-4. Jason Bay went 0-fer with two strikeouts and the Mets got gulled by San Diego 16-8.
-CFL camps start this week, with the BC Lions practicing just down the road from The 'Eh' Factor's head offices in Kamloops. This means that chances are high that Casey Printers will overthrow a receiver during a drill and the ball will carry into my yard.
-Toronto FC's Dwayne De Rosario was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week with a two-goal performance against San Jose. This is the kind of momentum that's nice to see from Canadian players as we prepare for the World Cup.
===
I'm really anticipating the start of football season. I think I might spend that time avoiding getting called out in the letters page of community newspapers by anonymous gym teachers. That's a pretty tight burden. Jays are on later, and if you're feeling particularly groovy, you can stay up late and watch the Twins on the Pacific channel, 100 per cent Buck Martinez free.
-We've all played pickup sports with that kid who would pick up the ball and go home if a game didn't go his way. It turns out Chris Pronger is one of those guys.
If you don't have the luxury of the Sportscentre morning loop with Onrait and O'Toole, you may have not noticed that Pronger picked up the puck after the game (you can see it in his left glove at the 0:27 mark) and then flicked a towel at Ben Eager.
Of course, Philadelphia had lost their second straight one-goal game 2-1 this time, and Craig Simpson on CBC speculated that Pronger wanted to keep the puck away from the Blackhawks as a part of team history. Pronger will go down in history as a great defenseman, and also somewhat of a prick. The man might be better served getting his team ready for Game 3 in Philly rather than attempting to play jedi mind-tricks with Ben Eager. "You are not a goal scorer."
"I am not a goal scorer."
"This is not the puck you're looking for."
"This is not the puck we're looking for."
Pronger later said he didn't know what language Eager was speaking. Eager apparently came all the way across the ice to tell him "you can keep the puck."
Either way, this is sure to broil down to a bigger controversy than Greedo shooting first. It may be wise to avoid Nick Kypreos' opinion on this one.
-His numbers weren't spectacular and his form wasn't particularly impressive, but Brendan Morrow put together a solid outing and gave the Jays a huge win in their first of three against the Rays to improve to 4-4 on the year. The Jays knocked Tampa started Matt Garza (5-4) pretty well, but only had three runs to show for their 11 hits. Adam Lind hit an opposite-field shot in the first inning, Vernon Wells had two more hits and Aaron Hill went 3-for-4 to increase his batting average to a paltry .179.
-In more Jays news, the team will honour Roy Halladay with a jumbotron tribute sometime this week. In the comments of that story, commenter JoeKnowsIt points out that the Leafs did the same thing with Mats Sundin when he returned to Toronto as a Canuck. I guess the state of Toronto sports is that bad, where you've run out of players on your own teams to honour. I can't wait to see what kind of montage the Raptors have prepared for Hedo Turkgolu.
-Justin Morneau went 3-for-4 as the Twins beat the Mariners 5-4. Jason Bay went 0-fer with two strikeouts and the Mets got gulled by San Diego 16-8.
-CFL camps start this week, with the BC Lions practicing just down the road from The 'Eh' Factor's head offices in Kamloops. This means that chances are high that Casey Printers will overthrow a receiver during a drill and the ball will carry into my yard.
-Toronto FC's Dwayne De Rosario was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week with a two-goal performance against San Jose. This is the kind of momentum that's nice to see from Canadian players as we prepare for the World Cup.
===
I'm really anticipating the start of football season. I think I might spend that time avoiding getting called out in the letters page of community newspapers by anonymous gym teachers. That's a pretty tight burden. Jays are on later, and if you're feeling particularly groovy, you can stay up late and watch the Twins on the Pacific channel, 100 per cent Buck Martinez free.
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